Thursday, 30 April 2020

The decisions of the Paphos Sewerage Board against the residents of Geroskipou are unlawful and arbitrary

Regarding the above matter, and in order to fully inform the residents of Geroskipou, as well as every property owner in Geroskipou, we wish to make the following known:
Until the end of 2015, the process of charging and collecting the sewerage usage fees of the Paphos Sewerage Board (SAPA) was carried out by the Municipality of Geroskipou on behalf of SAPA.
By letter dated 29/2/16, SAPA informed the Municipality of Geroskipou that, from then on, the charges/collections would be handled by its own service, calling on the Municipality to cease charging and collecting any dues related to the usage fee. The Municipality accepted SAPA’s request.

SAPA returned with a new letter on 28/6/16, seeking explanations from the Municipality of Geroskipou for the non-charging and non-collection of the sewerage fees, in fact citing an obligation on the part of the Municipality and putting forward the claim that SAPA was not ready to undertake such a process!

In its reply letter dated 18/7/16, the Municipality of Geroskipou reminded SAPA of the content of the Board’s letter dated 29/2/16, by which it had informed the Municipality that the collection and charging of the sewerage usage fee, which is linked to water supply consumption, would be handled by SAPA’s own services.

In the same letter, the Municipality also raised the inequality and injustice suffered by the residents of Paphos and Geroskipou, arising from the fact that, through the charges imposed on them, they covered the entire cost of using the sewerage system, in contrast to the residents of the communities, who at that time were not charged at all owing to the fact that SAPA was unable to collect the information necessary to impose charges.

Finally, the Municipality informed SAPA that any imposition of an increase would be contrary to the existing legislation and warned of the filing of appeals against the Board by affected property owners, as well as by the Municipality itself.

Nevertheless, at a later stage, the Municipality of Geroskipou, by decision of its Municipal Council dated 18/1/18, decided to reinstate the policy of charging and collecting the sewerage fee through its own services, effective from 1/1/18, following a request from the Chairman of SAPA, Mr Phaedon Phaedonos, who attended the plenary session of the Municipal Council in person.

On 28/11/19, SAPA informed the Municipality of Geroskipou of its decision dated 27/11/19, concerning the imposition of the amount owed for the years 2016 – 2017 through an equivalent increase in the sewerage fee for the area of the Municipality of Geroskipou, unless the Municipality accepted the proposal to charge and collect the amounts owed through the municipal water supply accounts and in instalments!

The Municipality of Geroskipou, by letter dated 5/12/19, informed SAPA that, following a decision of the Municipal Council dated 3/12/19, it would not proceed with any charging of usage fees, and that if SAPA wished to impose a retroactive charge, the Municipality would be willing to send it the necessary data again, noting, however, that such an action, based on the opinion of the Municipality’s legal adviser, is unlawful and unconstitutional.

The Municipality also made known its decision to cease carrying out the process of charging and collecting the sewerage fee from 31/3/20, and that this responsibility should be assumed by SAPA.

In summary, we inform the residents of Geroskipou, and others, that SAPA has taken a decision, which is manifestly unlawful, to impose a retroactive increase on the 2020 sewerage usage fee for the owners of land and property in the Geroskipou area, due to its inability to collect the relevant fee in the years 2016 and 2017.

Specifically:
The increase in the relevant accounts will be 65% for the area of Phase A of the Sewerage system and 77% for that of Phase B!
In addition, this decision creates several distortions:
A number of property owners will be called upon to pay sewerage usage fees which, under normal circumstances, would have been paid by their tenants at the time through the water supply bills.
Owners of undeveloped plots will be required to pay increased fees for a service that is essentially not provided to them.
The Municipality of Geroskipou will report the arbitrary actions of SAPA to the Minister of the Interior and to the Auditor General, and will also take legal action to protect the interests of citizens. All those affected are urged to seek legal advice on this development with a view to the possible protection of their interests, since if the legality of SAPA’s decisions is not challenged at an individual level, they will then have a final and binding effect on those subject to them.